bananas,chocolate,almonds,peanut butter...some of my favourite foods

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding from Veganomicon.
This was my first time making bread pudding and second time eating it.I first fell in love with it when I had it in Portland in the summer.It was made my Jess and Julie and was INCREDIBLE.This bread pudding does not come far behind in virtuosity.Bananas and chocolate chips.Not too sweet,but really decadent and filling.Even more so because,well,you know me,I added peanut butter to the bottom of my serving dish.Yes.I think I died.




oh,and the bread for the pudding was pretty awesome,too.


Sesame Oatmeal Cookies from My Sweet Vegan.
I would think that these would have banana in the title somewhere,but whatevs.I also thought nobody else would eat them,since they have applesauce,banana,and tahini in the recipe, but there's only 11 left out of the 20 made at 6:00 this evening.I think that I would be able to tell that there was banana in them even if I hadn't made them because when I veganized a Martha Stewart banana oatmeal cookie recipe in September they had the exact same texture as these and baked just like these,too.
I made half of the batch with chocolate chips.


Almond Avalanche Bars from My Sweet Vegan.
These were AMAZING.I wasn't expecting them to be so good.Y'know,just another bar cookie.Boy was I wrong.Very very rich.The taste is very sweet and nutty with a texture akin to cookie dough a top of a really yummy and crispy crust.Very dense.And the chocolate chips felt right at home.
The book says that a large helping of these could be considered a "heart healthy" breakfast.Ha.maybe if eating pure fat and sugar is great for yr heart.
My dad said "are these fattening" and I said "I dunno,probably.Why?"
he says "because they're so damn tasty".He didn't want to take another one home with him(after eating two) because they were "too much".

Though the recipe calls for 16oz almond butter...that's 2 cups,or one big jar.Almond butter is really $$$.But I will make these again.I added dried cranberries to half of the recipe because I LOVE the chocolate,almond and cranberry combination.




carrot spice muffins with pecan streusel.
this is a veganized recipe from a flour website my mom used to make vegan for me all the time when i lived with her.very very good and moist and spicy.I really like carrot muffins with peanut butter.I know,it's weird,but I had one like that at a hospital once and fell in love.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls-Recipe

Here's the recipe for the peanut butter cinnamon rolls from last week.wish i still had some:

RRF'S Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls

dough:
2 1/4 t yeast(1 packet)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 soy milk
2 T flax whipped with 6 T water
1/2 cup peanut butter(smooth or chunky,both are yum)
1/4 cup non hydrogenated vegan margarine,melted
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups flour(light spelt flour works really well for these rolls,too,btw)
1 t salt(more or less depending on if your peanut butter is salted and if you like the salty sweer peanut butter taste)

filling:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4-2 1/4 T cinnamon(depending how cinnamon-y you like em)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup non hydrogenated vegan margarine,softened/melty

-warm up the soy milk and add it to a mixing bowl with the yeast and sugar.mix and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
-add flax,peanut butter,margarine,flour,salt and mix well.you'll probably want to add margarine and peanut butter and flax first for easiest mixing.
-then knead for 5 to 15 minutes until you have a smooth and form dough.add flour as needed,and if you add too much,add more soy milk or water until the dough is the right consistency.
-set the dough in a greased bowl and cover and set in a (preferably warm) non-drafty place.let double in size,about 45-75 minutes about,but it depends on how warm it is and whatnot.
-after dough has doubled,punch it down and let it rest,covered,on a floured counter top.
-mix together the peanut butter and margarine for the filling.
-in a a separate bowl mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar for the filling.
-roll out the dough to a 16 x 21 inch rectangle.this is an approximate measurement.
-spread dough with margarine/peanut butter mixture,then evenly sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar mixture.there may be a lot of pb/margarine mixture,so if you have too much then spread it on the outside of the rolls too when you out them in the pan to double.
-roll up the dough tightly.cut into 8-12 sections,depending how big you want them.
-preheat oven to 350 degrees
-place in a 9x 13 inch baking dish or on a baking sheet.cover and let rise like before until about doubled.
-bake 15 to 20 minutes,or until slightly browned.
-let cool in pan on a cooling rack.pour icing over while still warm if you like.enjoy while warm,if you like.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls!!!

RRF's Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls.
Yep.I don't know where to begin.It's like everything I ever wanted in a cinnamon roll,but peanut butter.So peanut buttery.There's A LOT of fat in these.And even more deliciousness.It's my own recipe and i'll type post it eventually,maybe tonight,but i'm really busy okay,I swear.







and hey,it's me on the same day:

Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake

Caramel Macchiato Cheesecake from My Sweet Vegan.
Why the eff isn't Hannah paying me to promote this thing?
This only lasted a couple of hours.Everyone loved it.Including me.Probably my 3rd favourite recipe from my sweet vegan so far.My favourite is the triple threat chocolate cheesecake,and I thought that this was almost as good,but not AS good.I love the coffee and caramel flavours,obviously they're paired here for a reason. Oh and with the chocolate crust really made it good.I put chocolate covered espresso beans on top and crushed in the crust,too.
The caramel sauce didn't work the first time;it hardened as soon as I added the rest of the arrowroot,so I made it again and just cooked it less.It sets up fast,though!

I would also like to mention that Daniel didn't even get to have a slice,and this is tragic because my sister Sarah worked at Starbucks for 2.5ish years and would always bring us free drinks.He would ALWAYS get a caramel macchiato.Despite the fact that he was/is so anti-Starbucks.But I think he looked at it as more of "bringing down the man from the inside" since the drinks were free and using us Starbuck's "valuable resources".Yes,really bringing them down.He hasn't had one in years,but he still loves them.Oh well,I made him the cinnamon rolls he wouldn't shut up about wanting after I made the others for Joanne and Glenn.





Daniel's friend Joel wanted his hand to represent a "piece of cake"."peace of cake".HA.


here's some pictures from the weekend just cuz:

PUMPKIN:Rolls and Crumb Cake.Oh,and i'm really cool.

see,i'm awesome and famous!

Well,it appears that the entire world has made these now,and I have twice before this,so I guess I don't need to mention how delicious and perfect and pumpkin-y nice they are.But I will mention the mention I received in Don't Eat off the Sidewalk for making the chocolate variation back when I was a tester.See,right here:
http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=35816
yum...chocolate.
once again,i'm awesome and famous.
Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls!







Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel from Veganomicon.
so this Wednesday afternoon i made the Pumpkin Crumb Cake with Pecan Streusel from nomicon and pulled it out of the oven about 2 minutes before my dad picked me up to go to a doctor's appointment.He commented on how good it smelled.When he dropped me off later after having a very unpositive appointment i gave him some cake to take home.My little brother who lives with my dad and hates veganism phoned me that night and said "hey,you know that cake you made?can i have the rest of it?".so now he wants me to save it for him and get it to him tomorrow.
basically the point of this story is that this bread is really really awesome.i'm eating some right now and i highly suggest everyone else makes it.It's moist but not wet or dense in a bad squishy way and the punkin flavour really shines through.so so so so good.it should be called the best pumpkin crumb cake with pecan streusel because it's the best,just like the best pumpkin muffins,




also,i finally opened the Silk!Pumpkin Spice I bought in Seattle in November.Why did I wait?Because I kept wanting to drink it with something that would "go with" a pumpkin-y flavour.Whatevs.It's so so so good.Too bad it isn't fortified.And too bad they don't sell it here.

More Sweet Vegan and Seattle-ish.

So I've been working my way through more My Sweet Vegan recipes and I've come across one that definitely deserves praise.Also,last Saturday I went to Seattle,which was really fun and exciting.

Cookies & Cream Pound Cake from My Sweet Vegan.
Holy god this is so so so so so good.Definitely one of the best recipes i've made from the book.But it's pound cake filled with cookies,so what do you expect?
This bread had the perfect texture.I mean,I would expect that from a pound cake,but so far i've only had good vegan pound cake experiences with the v'con recipe and this one from My Sweet Vegan.More often than not vegan pound cake equates to a vanilla sweet bread-but pound cake is much more than that;rich,buttery,a little "crust",moist but not dense,and soft.
Thankfully this bread delivered on the promise of pound cake,and it was filled with
cookies.I used Trader Joe's Joe Joes.Best vegan oreos?







Self Frosting Peanut Butter Cupcakes from My Sweet Vegan.
Not too sweet,VERY peanut buttery.Good,but I'd call them a muffin and not a cupcake,especially since all the fat comes from the peanut butter,there's flax in them and the aforementioned not-too-sweetness.I like the Jimmy Carter Cakes from vctotw more,so I don't know if I'd make these again,since adding chocolate chips to the batter would be basically the same as the "self-frosting" bit just without the swirl.




On Saturday I went down to Seattle,WA to attend another National Portfolio Day.The last one being December 1st an Emily Carr.I posted a picture from the last one and mentioned about my portfolio being accepted by SAIC.Anyways,my dad and I drive down there to be at Cornish College at 9am,doors open at 10,stars 11.We get there 8:30,it's stormy,doors open at 9,sign in,line up,tons of people,3 lines,etc,etc,I get to the front of the line for the 3rd floor so at 11 I can get a good spot for the lines I wanna be in.I saw reps from Cooper Union and RISD.Both reviews went well,I got a faculty referral from Cooper Union to apply(despite it being so late,so that was nice)and the guy from RISD really liked the bird drawings series(a few posted under link) I had.I only saw the 2 schools,but by the time we were done there was only 1 hour left before it ended.Afterwards we went to the West Lake Whole Foods which was like 2 ft away from the school.It was huge and fancy and had a lot of vegan cake,but they were just boring,like vanilla.Though the fudge was awesome.And there was the biggest comice pears i've ever seen.
Then we went to Sidecar For Pig's Peace like usual.They were out of a lot of stuff,like Ricemellow and smores,but I did get some neat junk.Then my dad wanted to go to Trader Joes in hoped of cheap booze like he used to get in California,but WA doesn't sell it in grocery stores,only wine,but I didn't object to going and I got super cheap Joe Joes(as mentioned earlier,organic agave for $3.29(!!!)almond butter for like $5.50 and a bunch of other good deals.I miss Trader Joes,I remember going there when I was in 5th grade.
Well,that was our last stop,then we drove home.My dad's a really fast driver,and we had a fun time,and the portfolio review was another great experience,so I can't complain.Here's some pictures:

vegan peanut butter fudge from whole foods in Seattle Saturday.so good.so cloying.

Banapple Peanut Butter Caramel Bars

BANAPPLE Peanut Butter Caramel Bars.
From Veganomicon,but with added bananas and medjool dates.I LOVE peanut butter caramel so much it's uncanny.
I will also mention that I made these with a peanut butter crust using really delicious peanut butter granola,that was organic and on sale really cheap.
Geez,I made these over a year ago too when the recipe was first posted online.And I brought them to Mimi's house to meet Bronwen the first night of winter break,a Thursday and I was having a dilemma about taking the bus to Seattle to see Kimya Dawson,which I ended up doing.






recipe:
http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=211634#p211634

Why is Veganomicon like the best cookbook ever?I think i'm in loves.And it feels like a text book.

best pie ever and black bottom blondies

So,besides the totally incredible,melt in yr mouth,super smooth and chocolate-y,so good it needs no words(hence the post) cheesecake I posted a couple days ago,there has been more baking going on.

I made SMLOVE purely out of an intense craving I got last night after seeing mrsbadmouthkt's porn of it.As you may know,smlove is my favourite dessert,well besides the cake i made for my birthday,but w/e,smlove is amazing and i made it in November and thought i'd give it a while before making it again,and i was planning on making cheesecake instead,but no,I NEEDED smlove.I needed to be shown smlove.And I needed it with a glass of chocolate peppermint soymilk.Which I never crave and wouldn't usually want,but it needed to be done.SO good.So glad I gave in.






hey there


i also had it on new years eve just past midnight


Black Bottom Blondies from My Sweet Vegan.
The black bottom brownies sector is really really dense and fudgy and the blondies are everything that was perfect about the butterscotch blondies all on top.These were for my friend Karl,but I WILL be making these again.





chack out that "fudge".

chocolate cubed.

Happy 28!